Talks - The Experience of Pure Awareness

The Experience of Pure Awareness

The Experience of Pure Awareness

Satguru Bodhinatha Veylanswami
, 2009-11-11

Outer personality verses individual awareness. Actinic energy is permanent and does not change. The soul gives Life to our life. Actinic energy appears as clear inner space. Inner light is not the deepest experience. Gurudeva takes away the barriers that you're not ready, not worthy to experience and sustain kaif.

Unedited Transcript:

"In classical yoga teachings we look at individuality as being the actinic energy, or the clear white light, the pure energy substance of the mind, which is constant, ever unfolding itself, peaceful and controlled. The personality we consider as the various masks or personae which cover the individuality. The personae which are heavy, dark and glued on to one's face, so to speak, are those of an intense ego, congested odic force. They are most difficult and rather painful to drop off, or even to pull off. The personae which are transparent allow the clear white light from the actinic being to shine through. One can have many of these personalities and have fun using them constructively in the world, doing things of the world, always recognizing that the clearness of actinic vision shines through the mind-constructed personality of the individual's race, occupation, social background and various accomplishments."

Personality is often emphasized. I remember speaking to a woman, western woman from Quebec came and was thinking of going on our innersearch program almost did go on the innersearch program. Involved in a number of teachings, mostly New Age teachings and she was very proud to know something about her past lives. Kind of showing that information. "I know something about my past lives." And this, this and this. You know and here I was thinking about this. You know, having a personality identification for one life is challenging enough, you know. [laughter] When you remember them from multiple lives, well, it's kind of going the wrong direction from Gurudeva's point of view. So it pointed out a distinct difference in the New Age, which is not very new, you know, interest in past lives has been around for a long time. We'll just say that the metaphysical interest in past lives, who I was in a past life, what I did in a past life and isn't that great to know that? Plus, my current life and maybe what I'll be in a future life. All the emphasis on the outer personality verses the individual individuality -- the pure awareness inside us. So, it's a very different emphasis that Gurudeva's giving.

"Many people become attached to their personality and suffer when it changes. One cannot, however, be attached to his individuality. In identifying the difference between personality and individuality, we can say that man's individuality is the actinic, superconscious mind, which is constant, permanent, ever-unfolding and secure, and deep within, at a more intense rate of vibration than his odic conscious and subconscious mind, which make up the ever-changing personality. It is conceivable that man can have many different personalities, but he can have only one constantly unfolding individuality. And so it is the ego or personality masks we must identify as being the unreal and impermanent, and the actinic individuality as being the permanent, secure, ever unfolding and refined actinic phase of the mind. This week do an internal concentration on the words personality and individuality. Try to locate your individuality by identifying your several masks or personalities that you have created in this life and write your findings on why you can get attached to personality but cannot get attached to individuality."

We were doing this on the India Innersearch and so I gave this exercise -- we don't have time for an exercise but you can see what I gave.

"Think about your personality of the present versus your personality when you were about ten years old."

OK. You were a very different person when you were ten years old, right?

"Identify major changes between your personality at that time versus the present. The part of you that has not changed is your awareness, your individuality or your individual awareness."

So, the idea is when you look at yourself in the past we tend to look at our outer personality and see how much we've changed. But if we look inside there's part of us that is the same. So, if we look at that part of us which is the same then we're looking at our individuality or our actinic energy.

I was thinking on this and related it to one of Gurudeva's key mahavakya: "God is the Life of our life." It's the first shloka of Dancing With Siva so that shows it is important, right? Put it first. "God is the Life of our life."

So unfortunately, in English we have many words and they all mean the same thing. But we get confused cause they appear to be different. So the idea is when Gurudeva refers to actinic energy or individuality, which is what we were talking about, it's the same thing as life. Life means actinic energy. So when we say "the Life" we're saying the actinic energy or the individuality; just different words for the same thing.

We say: "The Life of our life." We're looking for the Life that makes everything else work. In other words obviously, the body has life but when we pass on it doesn't. So, something else is giving life to the body which is the soul. And even in the subtle world, the astral world, there's a body but we drop that off. So the soul is giving Life to that life. So the soul is the Life that's giving life to everything else, the idea.

In modern terms I was thinking of electricity. You take electricity, you can run all kinds of different machines with the same electricity. You could choose to run a computer, run a television, run a kitchen appliance but it's that energy that you're using to run the different machines is the Life of life. The Life that gives life to the machine. The machine works because of electricity. Electricity runs through different machines and makes it work. So it's similar to the Life of life. Electricity gives life to the machine. Likewise the soul is giving life to us.

So Gurudeva says, in Shloka 1:

"We are immortal souls living and growing in the great school of earthly experience in which we have lived many lives. Vedic rishis have given us courage by uttering the simple truth, 'God is the Life of our life.' A great sage carried it further by saying there is one thing God cannot do: God cannot separate Himself from us. This is because God is our life. God is the life in the birds. God is the life in the fish. God is the life in the animals. Becoming aware of this Life energy in all that lives is becoming aware of God's loving presence within us. We are the undying consciousness and energy flowing through all things. Deep inside we are perfect this very moment, and we have only to discover and live up to this perfection to be whole. Our energy and God's energy are the same, ever coming out of the void. We are all beautiful children of God. Each day we should try to see the life energy in trees, birds, animals and people. When we do, we are seeing God Siva in action. The Vedas affirm, 'He who knows God as the Life of life, the Eye of the eye, the Ear of the ear, the Mind of the mind -- he indeed comprehends fully the Cause of all causes.'"

So that's a beautiful verse and it's, you know, the idea of the eye of the eye for example is that which makes the eye work. So it's Life: that which makes the eye work, that which makes the mind work is Life.

Taking a different switch on the words. So far we've talked about individuality, actinic energy and life. And we're saying there are three different phrases or three different words for the same concept. Gonna add two more.

Gurudeva says: "Energy, awareness and willpower are one and the same."

Remember that? And now we're up to five because we added awareness and willpower. We have five different English words or phrases that mean exactly, refer exactly to the same thing in Gurudeva's teachings. So I wanted to relate individuality to awareness. And awareness as we know is a very key concept in the Shum language. Awareness which is just another word for actinic energy.

There's a nice exercise. I haven't created the meditation for it but I thought it would a great meditation. I'll read this and then I'll explain the meditation. Have to find the Shum words to do it.

"The seventh dimension is clear inner space--not clear white light, just clear space. Whereas in the sixth dimension one experiences an intensity of inner light that glows in every cell of the body -- through the torso, the hands, legs and feet -- in the seventh dimension he comes into pure inner space, seeing within himself a vast space that goes on and on and on like an infinite inner sky."

Gurudeva's pointing out that inner light is not the deepest experience. In many places he explains that inner light is the friction between actinic energy and odic energy. Creates a friction, sparks. Rubbing two things together, actinic energy is hitting odic energy and when that happens you have light. But the actinic energy itself doesn't appear as light; it appears as clear inner space.

"One deeply immersed in the seventh dimension would be aware of being aware, without an awareness of light. In a sense, he would be above the vibratory rate of light -- and, with no thing to be aware of, awareness becomes conscious of itself."

In other words, when the inner vibration gets high enough there's nothing else there. So awareness has no choice but to be only aware of itself. There's nothing else there.

This is the meditation:

"Awareness can expand into the endless inner space of the seventh dimension or contract into being completely aware of itself -- kaif."

So wouldn't that be a great meditation? You just, you go out and then you come back in. Go out and you come back in. Exploring the two different perspectives on the seventh dimension.

"The experience of kaif is simple; our concepts about it are the biggest barrier. We often feel that pure consciousness must be earned by a saintly life, and we generally know our life well enough to disqualify ourselves. (A little humor there.) However, anyone can experience kaif, awareness aware of itself, for brief interludes. Therefore, although kaif is itself easy to attain, it is indeed difficult to sustain for longer periods and even more difficult to dissolve into imkaif, Self Realization."

Gurudeva's trying to take away the barrier that we sometimes put up: "I'm not ready to experience this. I'm not worthy to experience this."

It's just that it takes practice or adjustments to sustain it, because we're pulled out by the contents of our subconscious and conscious mind. Pull us out of it quickly so we can't sustain it.

One last tip.

Gurudeva says: "It is good to locate the dimensions and distinguish them from the chakras. Chakras is the power of awareness within the dimension itself. Look at each dimension through the area of the body where the chakra exists. For instance, when in shumif, in the fourth dimension, try to look at the world through the chest. When in the seventh dimension, try to look at the inner world through the top of the head. When in the fifth dimension try to look out through the throat area. This is best done, of course, through shumnuhm (meditation). You will find that each chakra relates directly to the third eye and the third eye focuses through the chakra."

Gurudeva goes on to say: Just as you can see through your fingers -- you can feel things -- it's the same way through the chakras.

That's the idea, that looking at individuality verses personality and looking at it from all these points of view is: It's the part of us that doesn't change verses the part of us that does. As actinic energy, as life, as Life of life, as awareness and as willpower.

Thank you very much.

End of transcript.

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Siva is the Self of your self. He is closer than your own breath. His nature is love, and if you worship Him with devotion you will know love and be loving toward others. Devotees of God Siva love everyone.